stinking fridge

M

Mark Modrall

Guest
Hi...

We have a 5-year-old maytag refrigerator that has started to stink in
the last month and we can't figure out where the smell is coming from.
We've cleaned underneath, vacuumed out the drip pan, removed all the
food, but there's this smell that's particularly prevalent when you open
the door. We've put baking soda in, but we just can't seem to get rid
of it.

My wife says it smells like the compost bin, not like a mouse crawled
in and died.

Any idea where smells can hide in the guts of a fridge?

Thanks
-Mark
 
Sounds like the Plastic ..
As Maytag sez uncured plastic.
Try a Vanilla wash...

Don't say I am wrong because I have a Maytag and it does the same thing .
kip
"Mark Modrall" <mmodrall@verizon.cod> wrote in message
news:mmodrall-D13378.12170806082006@news.verizon.net...
Hi...

We have a 5-year-old maytag refrigerator that has started to stink in
the last month and we can't figure out where the smell is coming from.
We've cleaned underneath, vacuumed out the drip pan, removed all the
food, but there's this smell that's particularly prevalent when you open
the door. We've put baking soda in, but we just can't seem to get rid
of it.

My wife says it smells like the compost bin, not like a mouse crawled
in and died.

Any idea where smells can hide in the guts of a fridge?

Thanks
-Mark
Click to expand...
 
"Mark Modrall" <mmodrall@verizon.cod> wrote in message
news:mmodrall-D13378.12170806082006@news.verizon.net...
Any idea where smells can hide in the guts of a fridge?
Click to expand...
In the walls,and gaskets.
If a top freezer under the floor plate in the freezer,
and in the duct work of the air circulator fan.
Tricky to get rid of.
Depending how long you can live without a frig
you could take everything out and put in bowls
of chlorine bleach water and let them evaporate
through the entire box while running. Takes a couple of days.
Then turn the box off ,open the door and let air out
a couple of days.
 
In article <newscache$9b5l3j$sr6$1@newsfeed.niagara.com>,
"kip" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote:

Sounds like the Plastic ..
As Maytag sez uncured plastic.
Try a Vanilla wash...

Don't say I am wrong because I have a Maytag and it does the same thing .
kip
Click to expand...
It's always good to find advice from people who have dealt with the
same problem before. When you say the plastic, is there any particular
part you're referring to? The gasket seals? The doors or shelves?

And when you say Vanilla wash, do you really mean vanilla extract?
Or some kind of cleaner I'm unfamiliar with? My wife was thinking of
using one of those citrus-based cleaners.

She also is of the impression that the odor is strongest in the back
by the air exchangers, but I'm not sure about that.

Thanks
_mark
 
In article <X%rBg.53908$rp4.37029@tornado.texas.rr.com>,
"Xeno Chauvin" <arfulbrank@houston.rr.com> wrote:
In the walls,and gaskets.
If a top freezer under the floor plate in the freezer,
and in the duct work of the air circulator fan.
Tricky to get rid of.
Depending how long you can live without a frig
you could take everything out and put in bowls
of chlorine bleach water and let them evaporate
through the entire box while running. Takes a couple of days.
Then turn the box off ,open the door and let air out
a couple of days.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the advice... How big a bowl of water/bleach? Seems like
it would take quite a while for a large bowl to evaporate when it's
being cooled (especially in the freezer :))

-Mark
 
Mark Modrall wrote:
Hi...

We have a 5-year-old maytag refrigerator that has started to stink in
the last month and we can't figure out where the smell is coming from.
We've cleaned underneath, vacuumed out the drip pan, removed all the
food, but there's this smell that's particularly prevalent when you open
the door. We've put baking soda in, but we just can't seem to get rid
of it.

My wife says it smells like the compost bin, not like a mouse crawled
in and died.

Any idea where smells can hide in the guts of a fridge?

Thanks
-Mark
Click to expand...

Look under the crisper drawers.

Bob
 
On Sun, 06 Aug 2006 20:24:35 GMT, Mark Modrall <mmodrall@verizon.cod>
wrote:

In article <X%rBg.53908$rp4.37029@tornado.texas.rr.com>,
"Xeno Chauvin" <arfulbrank@houston.rr.com> wrote:
In the walls,and gaskets.
If a top freezer under the floor plate in the freezer,
and in the duct work of the air circulator fan.
Tricky to get rid of.
Depending how long you can live without a frig
you could take everything out and put in bowls
of chlorine bleach water and let them evaporate
through the entire box while running. Takes a couple of days.
Then turn the box off ,open the door and let air out
a couple of days.

Thanks for the advice... How big a bowl of water/bleach? Seems like
it would take quite a while for a large bowl to evaporate when it's
being cooled (especially in the freezer :))
Click to expand...
He's not talking about the whole thing evaporating, just as much as
will do so with a medium or big size electric mixer mixing bowl size.
I haven't done this, but it sounds like it would work. But I doubt
you'll be able to notice that the level went down.

My Kenmore has a sticker on the fridge wall saying it is a special
material that doesn't absorb odors. From that I deduced that some
fridge and/or freezer walls absorb odors.


>-Mark
 
Mark Modrall wrote:

Hi...

We have a 5-year-old maytag refrigerator that has started to stink in
the last month and we can't figure out where the smell is coming from.
We've cleaned underneath, vacuumed out the drip pan, removed all the
food, but there's this smell that's particularly prevalent when you open
the door. We've put baking soda in, but we just can't seem to get rid
of it.

My wife says it smells like the compost bin, not like a mouse crawled
in and died.

Any idea where smells can hide in the guts of a fridge?
Click to expand...
What was it that was in there when you had a power cut ?

Graham
 
Not sure where its coming from but...............

THE BEST way to eliminate the smell is by using charcoal. Its been
proven. Someone left an uncooked chicken in their trunk in Florida for 3
days. Phew!!!! and Crab smell in a fridge.)

Dont buy a bag with the match lite/ easy lighting charcoal. Just a
mixing bowl size of charcoal and let it sit open in the fridge.

Tracy



Mark Modrall wrote:
Hi...

We have a 5-year-old maytag refrigerator that has started to stink in
the last month and we can't figure out where the smell is coming from.
We've cleaned underneath, vacuumed out the drip pan, removed all the
food, but there's this smell that's particularly prevalent when you open
the door. We've put baking soda in, but we just can't seem to get rid
of it.

My wife says it smells like the compost bin, not like a mouse crawled
in and died.

Any idea where smells can hide in the guts of a fridge?

Thanks
-Mark
Click to expand...
 
On Sun, 6 Aug 2006 21:42:45 -0400, Tracy wrote
(in article <pUwBg.5705$FN2.1130@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com>):

Not sure where its coming from but...............

THE BEST way to eliminate the smell is by using charcoal. Its been
proven. Someone left an uncooked chicken in their trunk in Florida for 3
days. Phew!!!! and Crab smell in a fridge.)

Dont buy a bag with the match lite/ easy lighting charcoal. Just a
mixing bowl size of charcoal and let it sit open in the fridge.

Tracy
Click to expand...
I have never understood this theory. In the first place, only
"activated" charcoal is effective. In the second, it will only remove
impurities in the air. Unless you remove the source of the odor, it
will regenerate as fast as you remove it.

Someone up thread mentioned an "orange cleaner". Don't. I can tell
you from sad experience with a freezer it will leave it's own
objectionable odor (I used "409"). After it was too late I looked at
the small print on the label: "Not for refrigerators". Duh! I was
able to get most of it out by leaving a small saucer of household
ammonia in the freezer over night, although it took three treatments.

I have never tried vanilla, but I have read where you just end up with
a vanilla smell permeating all your food.

I bought a used upright Hotpoint refrigerator that had a bad odor.
Took the whole thing apart and cleaned every nook and cranny
scrupulously. The odor remains to this day, several years later. I
suspect it is due to bacteria in the insulation between the walls or
perhaps due to the insulation itself. If that is the case, I can't
imagine how one would get rid of the odor short of getting rid of the
refrigerator.

--
Nelson
 
Hey Graham SFB like it sez uncured plastic...

Phone Maytag that's what I did and explained the problem and that was there
response.

They removed the Fridge and striped it down and gave it a vanilla Bath..

By the way its only a tempory fix.






"Eeyore" <rabbitsfriendsandrelations@REMOVETHIS.hotmail.com> wrote in
message news:44D6938F.D0414F4D@REMOVETHIS.hotmail.com...
kip wrote:

Sounds like the Plastic ..
As Maytag sez uncured plastic.

WTF is 'uncured plastic' !!!! ?????

Graham
Click to expand...
 
Mark Modrall wrote:

Hi...

We have a 5-year-old maytag refrigerator that has started to stink in
the last month and we can't figure out where the smell is coming from.
We've cleaned underneath, vacuumed out the drip pan, removed all the
food, but there's this smell that's particularly prevalent when you open
the door. We've put baking soda in, but we just can't seem to get rid
of it.

My wife says it smells like the compost bin, not like a mouse crawled
in and died.

Any idea where smells can hide in the guts of a fridge?

Thanks
-Mark
Click to expand...
Once I had a stinking fridge. It would stink even with the door shut.
Someone had spilt some milk which had run out of the drain at the back of
the fridge and it collected in the plastic tray which is located on the
back of the fridge on top of the compressor where it would stay nice and
warm. Water condensed inside the fridge would be regularly channelled
through the drain and into the plastic tray, to prevent the mouldy stuff
from dehydrating and dieing. After a few weeks it was fairly smelly.

Chris
 
Hi!

We've cleaned underneath, vacuumed out the drip pan, removed all the
food, but there's this smell that's particularly prevalent when you open
the door. We've put baking soda in, but we just can't seem to get rid
of it.
Click to expand...
There's still a lot to look at here. Most modern refrigerators have a sort
of plumbing system that channels water (generated by the defrost cycle) away
and to a structure that allows it to evaporate.

Unplug the power (don't just turn the fridge off) before trying any of
these.

There might be some area where the drain has become plugged and is not
letting water get away. Given enough hot/cold cycles, it could really turn
nasty and stinky. If you can get at the lines and channels that are supposed
to take this water away, pour boiling (or at least very hot) water down
them. This can flush out a clog in the lines. Be careful, however, as this
could cause parts to melt or swell.

Also look in the fan ducting. Maybe something got spilled or leaked into
that area.

Smells can also hide underneath the plastic "skin", as it isn't always a
solid piece. Sometimes it happens that something gets spilled and leaks down
underneath the points where the plastic comes together. I've never had to
deal with this kind of a problem, but I have seen it happen and I don't
think it would be fun to fix it.

William
 
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